Sensors and a variety of downhole tools require power input and transmit signals to the surface via electrical circuits. Some occasions require a connection downhole to complete such circuits. Apart from completing electrical power and signal transmission circuits connections also need to be completed downhole that will provide continuity to control line circuits or tubulars through which a fiber optic cable can be run for a variety of functions.
One style of wet connectors for electrical applications involves a male component with an exterior contact band and a female counterpart component with a band on an interior surface. The portion of the string left in the well has a first hub generally with the female component looking up. The string run in from the surface has a second hub with the male component extending down longitudinally. The hub being run in is rotationally oriented as it advances toward the female hub so that the banded male and female components line up before being pushed together until the electrical contacts on each are opposite each other to complete the circuit. Some examples are U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,439,932 and 4,510,797. Wet connectors that complete tubing circuits in a similar manner are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,755,253; 6,390,193 and 6,186,229. Some connectors combine connection of electrical lines and hydraulic lines as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,648. Wet connectors for wireline that involve an indexing feature without a main bore in the connection are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,683.
Some connectors involve a polished bore receptacle and a string that is inserted into it. The receptacle has a button extending radially into the bore and the string has on its exterior a circumferential ring that is an open scroll with bent up edges. When the string is fully inserted into the polished bore receptacle the central conduit is joined and the bent tabs are said to find the button to make electrical contact in the polished bore with no need for rotational alignment. This design is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,925.
What is needed and provided by the present invention is a wet connector that features one or more circumferential conductive bands wrapped around the outside of the male component and the inside of the female component for assured contact when they become axially aligned without the need for any rotational orientation. The contact can occur virtually continuously over 360 degrees or a lesser angle, if desired. Projecting components that can break off on the trip downhole to where the connection is made are avoided in favor of cylindrical mating contact surfaces for a more reliable connection. The contacts can be covered for run in to protect them from well fluids and mechanical harm during run in and until the connection is made. In the preferred embodiment, the act of making the connection displaces the protective sleeves from both halves of the connection just as the connection is made. Seals keep fluid out of the contact area when the contacts are in alignment. These and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the description of the preferred embodiment and the associated drawings while the full scope of the invention can be appreciated from the appended claims.